Knight of Fire
by Fire Eyes
Summary: This is the story of Squall and Rinoa's son... along with various others of the generation after the FF8 characters. *under construction*
1. Lethe

Author's Note: I don't own any characters, ideas, etc., that compose Final Fantasy VIII, as well as the other games.  Please enjoy!  And remember, this is a work in progress, so it's rusty and unfinished!  Let me know if I should continue, onegai!  

~*~*~*~*~

Chapter 1: Lethe

            "The world seems to have chaos once again, due to the actions of Ciaran," Maura Daexis commented to her four Sisters of the Council of Five.

            "You have a talent for understatement, Sister," Adriane Alanis, Queen of Lethe and Head of the Council of Five, noted dryly.  "One would think that we would have more control over our dear departed Brother, but perhaps our powers have been weakened by his activities."

            "Do you truly think so?" Kolby Vlyrdis asked, a note of worry creeping into her normally even voice.

            "It is but a theory, Sister, but it is plausible all the same.  We cannot let a single possibility out of our minds until a stronger hypothesis for his increased power is presented."

            "Are we going to do something about him?" Darcele Nuvis queried politely.

            "Of course we are.  Before we can decide on a course of action the issue must be brought up before the Assembly, but you do know that that has become a simple formality," Adriane reminded them, her eyes and voice betraying no malice.

            The other four nodded in agreement.  "That being said," Duvesse Herefis began, "we should look for ways to neutralize his newfound power."

            "Good point, Sister," Queen Adriane replied.  "We must then look to the source.  From where does his power come, and how does he derive this power?"

            "My servants have reported rumors in which hints are made of the derivation of his newfound power from a Stone," Maura informed them.

            "That would make sense," Adriane acknowledged, nodding.

            Darcele added, "I have heard that he was able to place under his sway a renegade from the northern tribe, Aithne."

            All but the queen greeted her comment with shocked gasps.  "One of our kind allowed herself to succumb to the seductive talents of a man?" Duvesse exclaimed, outraged.

            Darcele nodded.

            "That would explain a few things," Adriane mused.

            "And what of the boy, Sister?" Kolby inquired, suddenly switching the topic and addressing their Head, looking her in the eye.

            An expression of surprise flashed across Adriane's face briefly before she was able to regain control.  '_I had almost forgotten about Sister Kolby's talents as a telepath.'_  Adriane paused before replying, standing in the process.  Gracefully she clasped her hands together behind her back as she turned to look out the window.  "Matthew Leonhart is a strong young man, but his lack of experience makes him too easy a task for one of us, Sisters."  Adriane then turned to face her four direct subordinates and fellow members of the Council of Five.  "I believe it is time to test my niece—this will be a suitable task for her."  She briefly outlined the plan, which was applauded by the other four.

            "It is most appropriate, Sister," Maura commended her.

            "Thank you," Adriane replied modestly with a small bow of her head.  "Now, call a meeting of Lethe—we will speak to the rest of our Sisters in one hour."

* * *

            The room was large and circular, built to impress the viewer.  Its imposing height and gold-lined walls and floor lent a feeling of majesty and power to the atmosphere.  Directly across from the entrance, seated on a raised platform with five steps leading up to it, a semi-circle of five throne-like chairs was found.  Each was gilded with gold, matching the chamber's décor perfectly, but the center chair was even more inlaid with riches than the other four.  Gems studded the five points atop the seat's back and a rich crimson fabric lined the chair itself.

            The side door opened.  One by one the Council of Five walked regally into the Ruling Chamber of Lethe, each sitting in her designated chair.  The last in line sat in the center throne, her floor-length raven-black hair flowing behind her, a regal cape for the tribe's leader.

            "This assembly is now in session," Queen Adriane announced evenly, her voice easily carrying throughout the room without echoing off the curved walls, the centuries-old volume enhancement spell still in effect.

            The rest of the members of Lethe, gathered on the floor before the raised platform, sat down at her words and each assumed a respectful state of attention.

            "It has been called to our attention," the queen began, indicating the other four members of the Council with an elegant wave of her hand, "that first of all, our renegade Brother, Ciaran, has decided to bring uncontrolled chaos to this land."

            A few staccato cries of outrage followed her statement but died down quickly.

            "My sentiments exactly, my dear Sisters," Adriane replied.  "We all know better than that—it is most unwise to unleash uncontrolled darkness in such a world as ours.  However, since our Brother decided to abandon his home before his schooling was complete, he does not know as we do the foolishness of such actions.  Thus we have decided to take action against him, so that all of our hard work in the world thus far does not go to waste.

            "As we are a close-knit group, a governing body all, I am open to propositions submitted in the normal fashion as to how we should go about bringing our renegade Brother Ciaran back to the correct path.  We will hold another session soon to discuss the then-proposed ideas and the choosing of the best course of action.

            "Another matter brought to this Council's attention is the issue of a young man.  I know you all remember the pain and rage the man named Squall Leonhart brought to our community through his dealings with our Sister, Edea."  Adriane paused momentarily for the predicted screams of rage and anguish to pass.  After raising her hand for silence she continued, "We have discovered that his son, Matthew, is following in his father's footsteps.  Soon he will take his SeeD examination, having excelled in all of his training and classes.  He is strong yet inexperienced, making him a worthy opponent for one of our own.  Lady Jade Alanis, please come forward."

            A respectful silence settled over the gathered sisters of Lethe as a raven-haired young woman stood and approached the platform.  "As we all well know, my niece and our Sister has progressed rapidly in her training as a sorceress, excelling in each area far more rapidly than any of us would have ever hoped or dreamed, yet still following in our teachings perfectly.  Since this is the case, her _serefine_ testing will consist of learning about, gaining the trust of, and then bringing to us Matthew Leonhart, son of Squall and Rinoa Leonhart, for further questioning and research into the minds of the Leonhart family."

            Queen Adriane Alanis stood and with a regal bearing stepped forward to greet her niece.  Formally taking Jade's right hand in both of hers, she said, "Lady Jade Alanis, we, the Council of Five and the Assembly of Lethe, do now entrust to thee the task we hath set before thee.  We trust that thou will perform it to the best of thy ability and return with success and many honors for us to present to thee."

            The young sorceress inclined her head to her aunt and replied, "I will do my best, for my Sisters, my queen, and Lethe herself."

            Adriane smiled, slipped a piece of paper in her niece's hand unseen, and turned to the assembly.  "Let us send off our Sister to the task that lies ahead of her, and wish her good fortune on her journey."  As she spoke she raised a hand, palm open to the ceiling, and formed a crown of gray vapor that then settled on top of Jade's head in blessing.

           While Jade formally walked back down to the floor and out the door, the queen turned to Kolby and thought openly, '_That went very well—thus we are able to kill two men with one kiss, are we not?'_

            Her Sister simply nodded in reply, her eyes telling her queen that she had indeed understood her thought.

            Adriane nodded in return and turned back to watch her niece's outline dissolve and fade as soon as she had walked out the door.  '_Jade will perform very well, I am sure—I have high hopes for her.  She is certainly making up for the failure her mother was._'

            With a low snort of derision she pushed the thought of her deceased youngest sister out of her mind and turned back to the Assembly to conclude the meeting.


	2. Jade

Chapter 2: Jade

            The dark hallway wavered and finally dissolved into a cheery, sunlit landscape as Jade concluded the translocation spell.  However, the beautiful, song-filled forest did little for the young woman's mood.  '_So, that woman has finally deigned to give me my final test,'_ the young sorceress thought derisively, refusing to acknowledge her biological relationship to the queen of Lethe.  '_I'm sure she's doing this to see if I am ready to be pronounced as her heir…now I have to figure out just what I am going to do about all this.  Am I going to allow her to pronounce me Heir to Darkness or not?'  _Jade sighed heavily and sat down on a nearby fallen log, the piece of paper in her hand forgotten.  '_I wish Mother were here…she would know what to do…'_

* * *

            The room was fresh and well lit, a marked change from the rest of the Commons.  "Zialyn," Adriane began, remaining standing, "I thought you had been asked to change the atmosphere of your room."

            "I had," Zialyn Alanis replied softly from her seat on her bed.

            "Then why is your room unchanged?"

            "I had been asked, just as you said, sister.  A request is not an order, no matter what you may think.  I will not change my room—I like it the way it is."  Her reply was without malice, yet there was an undertone of defiance to her words.

            The queen sighed.  "Zia," she said, trying a different tack and using her youngest sister's short name, "I had hoped that after we had cleansed you, you would be free."

            Zialyn stood and looked her sister directly in the eye, her greater height more than making up for the thirty-year difference in their ages.  "Your idea of cleansing, Adriane, is no more than a mockery of the word itself.  What you do is damaging, not cleansing, and you and I both know that you know this to be true."  She sighed sadly.  "You and I also both know that we are different, and we will never agree on what is right for us.  However, I will not bow down to you any longer—especially not after what you have done to me."

            Adriane raised an eyebrow.  "Oh?  And what might I have done to you to cause you to hold malice toward me?"

            Zialyn shook her head.  "That will no longer work on me, Adriane.  You know full well what you have done—killing my husband is no method to regain what you had lost: my submission."

            The queen of Lethe's eyes widened and her mouth hung open in shock.  "You—you were _married_ to that Kar man?"

            "Kerr," Zialyn corrected her softly.

            Her elder sister was too incensed to notice her gentle reprimand.  "You—you have disgraced this house by your foul deeds!  You are to leave immediately!  Get out, now!"

            Zialyn shook her head sadly.  "This is just like you, Adriane—you truly will never change."

            Adriane refused to respond and vanished from the room with a loud clap of thunder and bright flash of light.

            "Mother?" eight-year-old Jade called out from the shadows, from where she had watched the entire scene.  "Why did Aunt Adriane do that?"

            Zialyn knelt down to look at her daughter on an equal level.  "Whatever happens to us now, Jade Nell Alanis, remember this for all time: your Aunt is a dangerous woman.  Never trust her."

            Jade nodded solemnly, unfazed by her mother's changing of the subject.  "I promise, Mother."

            "Good."  Zialyn stood.  "Gather your things—we are leaving."

            "Yes, Mother."

            Less than half an hour later everything the pair owned was packed, all items fitting into one suitcase through a compression enchantment.  Taking the suitcase in one hand and her daughter's hand in the other, Zialyn silently cast the translocation spell that would take them outside of the Lethe compound and into the outside world.  The normal waver and dissolve occurred, but rather than ending up outside they found themselves in a huge, dark room.

            "What is this place, Mother?" Jade asked, no fear creeping into her voice—only a note of wary curiosity.

            '_I have trained her well,'_ Zialyn thought proudly.  But the sense of pride was fleeting, for she then had to respond to her daughter's question.  "I do not know, my dear—be on your guard."

            "Yes, Mother."

            "You wish to know what this place is, do you?" Adriane's voice cracked down to them from her sudden appearance in the air ten feet above their heads.

            "What do you want, woman?" Zialyn hissed, realizing what her elder sister had done.

            "Simple—your daughter is not going with you.  

            "And why is that?"

            "She is the Heir to Darkness—or she will be in the future."

            Zialyn's eyes narrowed.  "I do not think so.  She _is_ coming with me."

            "No.  You will leave.  _She will stay—she belongs to the Shadow now."_

            "No," Zialyn said, taking her daughter's hand in her own.  Silently she cast Protect on them…but for some reason nothing happened.  Unconsciously she let go of Jade's hand, so great was her surprise.  '_What is this place?'_

            "No?"  The queen of Lethe snorted and pretended not to notice the younger sorceress' attempt at magic.  "You have much backbone for one in a position such as yours.  Like I said, you _will leave."_

            "I think not, Adriane."

            "Really now?" she replied with a raised eyebrow.  "So much for your thought, little sister...I will send you on your way now."

            The hair on the back of Zialyn's neck stood on end at the ominous undertone in Adriane's voice.  "NO!" she cried, reaching for her daughter.  But she was too late.  Jade vanished, reappearing in Adriane's arms a second later, her eyes oddly glazed over and boring directly into her mother's soul.  That expression pained her many times more than the thunderbolt arcing out of the sky into her heart ever could have, had she felt it.

            Only after the flash of light had faded did Zialyn glance down and spot the burning, black hole in her chest where her heart used to be.  She felt no pain, as her entire body was numb from the blast.  

            As blackness began to slide over her vision, she cast an insensible spell toward her daughter and said silently, "Remember…what…I…told…you…about… your…aunt…oh, Jade…be…very…careful…for me…and…for…your… father…"  Then the blackness overcame her, and she slipped away into nothingness.

            Adriane laughed harshly.  "She deserved what came to her."  Glancing down at the spell-bound girl in her arms, she said, "I have great plans for you, young one."  Laughing again, she vanished from the Room of Punishment, unaware of the rebellion sparked in her niece's heart by her mother's last words.

* * *

            "Oh, why am I still here, affiliated with this accursed place and learning the arts of black magic?" Jade cried out to the world, her heart rent yet again by the pain of watching her mother die at the hands of her own sister.  The thought of what she should do now was now far off in a distant corner of her mind, driven away by the distressing memory.  "Am I an idiot for remaining with those evil women thus far?  What am I doing?  Someone, tell me!"

            '_Light…'_

            The young woman froze at the sound of the unknown voice.  "Who's there?"

            '_Use light…'_

            "What?"  '_Wait…am I truly hearing the voice or is it just in my mind?'_

            '_Keep light…in your heart…'_

            "What are you talking about?  What light?" she demanded.

            But the odd voice did not answer.

            "Well, that was weird," Jade commented mildly, unaware of the fact that the voice had managed to make her forget about her recent angst.  "Oh, well, nothing I can do about it now.  Time to get a move on and figure out why this Matthew Leonhart person has those women so nervous."

            Standing with a renewed resolve, Jade cast a spell to call a rodoral to her.  About two minutes later a great flapping of leathery wings was heard, and a giant bird-like creature settled down on the ground next to her.  With a gentle pat on the rodoral's neck, she mounted the creature and asked it to fly to Esthar, on the continent of Trabia, where she hoped to find information on this Matthew Leonhart's whereabouts.

            Only then did she glance down to look at the paper in her hand.  Jade's eyes widened when she opened the single sheet and found the face of a young man looking at her.  '_This must be him…I guess Adriane didn't trust me to find him completely _on my own…Dang, but that boy is good-looking.'  _She shook her head, trying to snap herself out of it.  '_Get a grip, girl—you have a mission here.'__

            '_So?' a little voice in her mind said.  '_I thought you didn't like those people.  And now you're going to bring this cute guy into their clutches?'__

            '_I don't know what I'm going to do!'_ she wailed silently.

            '_You might want to figure that out sometime soon.'_

            '_But my first objective is simply to find out more about him.  I have some time, you know.'_

            '_And then you have to find him and "gain his trust."  What then?'_

            Jade had no answer to that, and spent the flight to Esthar deep in thought, her brow creased and eyes narrowed.


	3. Matthew

Chapter 3: Matthew

            "All right, SeeD cadets, this is your mission, as well as your test for whether or not you are to attain SeeD status," Headmaster Arik Barnett informed the group of ten students standing at attention in front of him.

            Each of the students, six young men and four young women, nodded smartly.

            "At ease."

            They each relaxed slightly, yet still standing tall before their headmaster.

            Arik nodded and continued speaking.  "Your mission will take place at the town of Tears' Point, where a large group of renegade Esthar soldiers has taken over, rumored to be at the order of the Dark Mage Ciaran.  You are to be divided up into five pairs, each with a specific mission to accomplish.  However, you must keep the general goal in mind as well: the expulsion of the renegade force from Tears' Point.  

            "Now, the assigned pairs are not open for discussion.  You will work at your specific task with your partner, and that is all."  The headmaster glanced down at his clipboard and indicated each person mentioned with his pen.  "Ericka and Martin, you will secure the West Gate.  Ferran and Ria, your task is to guard the Central Square.  Colene and Mark, you two will look after the Northeast Gate.  Kadin and Hera, you're assignment is the Southeast Gate.  Matt and Fox, you are to patrol the South Tower just outside of the town."  He paused, put the clipboard and pen down, and turned to address all ten cadets.  "Once you have taken care of any renegade soldiers in your assigned areas, you are to remain at your post until you receive further orders.  If you all complete your respective missions, the goal will be accomplished and airlifts will arrive to pick you up.  Any questions?"

            "What if soldiers get past us and get back into the city?" Hera asked.

            "Then you will have failed, and the real SeeDs will have to come in and mop up after you," the headmaster said bluntly.

            Hera nodded and shrunk back slightly.

            "How are we getting there?" Ferran inquired.

            "I'll explain that more in detail momentarily, but we are going overland."

            Kadin frowned.  "Why aren't we using the airlifts to get there, as well as leave?"

            Arik turned and made eye contact with him.  "Do you want the entire town to know you're coming?"

            The young man's eyes widened.  "No, sir!"

            "That is what I thought." 

            "Sir, do we know why these soldiers have gone renegade and invaded the town?" Matt queried.

            Arik glanced at the young man.  '_A sharp one, he is.  I knew he would be the one to ask, somehow.  I will be surprised if he does not pass the exam.'_  "No, we do not.  But that is not your concern, at this point," he added quickly before Matt could voice his next question.  "The priority for the ten of you is to fulfill your tasks—do not allow your minds to stray from that fact.  Like I said earlier, if by some chance you fail at your mission, ten real SeeDs will come in and accomplish the task that you failed to complete.  Now, all of you head to the parking lot.  From there you will be transported to Balamb.  After you arrive in the town head for the train station and take the one headed for Esthar.  From there you will be driven to Tears' Point and dropped off just outside of the town itself.  Once you arrive, head for your assigned posts and follow your orders.  That will be all," he said finally, dismissing them and turning away before they had even finished their salutes.

            As one the cadets turned and filed out the door, each gravitating toward his or her assigned partner.  

            "Yo, Leonhart!  Looks like we're together again," Fox Danes said with an impish grin.

            Matt nodded distractedly.  "Yeah, yeah…"  He turned away from his partner and headed out into the hall with the others.

            "Humpf…that was odd," Fox noted with a frown.  "I wonder what's eating at him?"

            In the rather crowded elevator down to the main floor of Garden there was a lot of jostling, so Matt managed to maneuver himself to stand behind Colene Elnara.  "You ready for this?" she whispered, turning to face him before he had a chance to say a word.

            "I think so—yes," he said, quickly amending it to sound more confident at the fleeting look of surprise that crossed her face.  "Are you?" he asked after a brief moment's pause.

            "Yeah," she replied, but her voice shook as she said it.

            He reached out to give her a reassuring pat on her shoulder.  "You'll do just fine, I'm sure."

            She flashed him a grateful smile that dazzled him, making him go weak in the knees.  Then the elevator stopped and other cadets came between them, halting any further conversation.

            On the walk to the parking lot it was much the same: Matt was completely unable to get near the young blonde woman, much as he would have liked to.  And in the car, much to his chagrin, he and Fox were forced to sit in the front, while Colene and her friends sat in the seat furthest back in the transport car.

            Suddenly, just as the car was starting, he felt a jab in his side.  Glancing over at Fox, he saw his friend wearing a smirk that somehow unnerved him.  "What?" Matt asked, his tone more irritated than he had meant it to be.

            "You really like her, don't you?"

            "Not so loud!" he hissed.

            Fox laughed, but politely kept his laughter down.  "Just as I thought.  No wonder you seemed so antsy on the walk to the lot—I thought you were just nervous, but you were trying to get closer to her, weren't you?"

            Matt looked over at him with a worried expression.  "Am I that obvious?"

            Taken aback by the glance—'_I've never seen him look so anxious about anything!'—Fox hastily assured him, "No!  I just noticed 'cause I was walking right next to you and am your partner and friend, after all."  He smiled in a further attempt to soothe Matt's feelings._

            It worked.  The young man's face slowly relaxed, and he even managed a half-smile after a moment.  "Thanks, Fox," he replied.  Then he recalled the partner assignments, and that Mark Devenfield, the one who made most girls go crazy for whatever reason, got to be Colene's partner.  A shadow of anger crossed his face briefly before he was able to get it under control, and laid his head back casually, closing his eyes in a show of nonchalance.

            But Fox had noticed the fleeting expression, and figured that Mark was the most likely reason.  However, recalling what his thoughtless banter had caused earlier, he kept his mouth shut and copied his friend's pose.  After a few minutes they arrived in Balamb, and as they got out of the vehicle and headed for the Esthar train station, Matt resolved to not try to get near Colene at all.  '_Who knows?  Since I've tried to get near her the entire time, and it's only worked once, perhaps nearly avoiding her will get me next to her.' _ He crossed his fingers for luck and boarded the train, Fox following close behind him.

            Perhaps he should have crossed more than just his fingers…his whole body, maybe.  Since they had been in the front of the transport vehicle, they were the first on the train, and Colene in her friends had been in the back, so they went to the back of the compartment on the train.  All the seats were filled near her, so Matt and Fox were forced to stay where they had first sat down: in the front row, far from Colene.

            "Sorry, Matt," was all Fox said before a curt shake of his friend's head cut him off.  Matt closed his eyes, willing himself to forget about that girl—he would not even call her by name, not even in his mind—and used a technique his father had taught him years before: the ability to slip into a light sleep almost immediately, yet be awakened easily and be fairly alert.

            Fox stuck his tongue out at Matt, fully aware that the young man could not see it, and then did his best to copy his friend's action.  Even though Matt had painstakingly spent hours trying to teach Fox how to fall asleep like that, he had never been able to do it half as well as Matt could.

            A few hours later, the intercom came on, announcing the next stop to be the city of Esthar.  Matt snapped awake immediately, and a nudge for his friend woke Fox up as well.  "Not bad," Matt told him.

            Fox flashed him a grin.  "I knew I'd get it one of these days."

            "Um…I don't know if you've completely 'gotten' it, but you are closer than you were before…a little bit, anyway," Matt said, his bantering tone giving away the fact that he was teasing.

            The redhead glared at him.  "Thanks ever so much for your confidence in my…"  His face took on a sheepish expression.  "…in my sleeping skills," he finished, bursting into laughter before the entire sentence was out of his mouth.

            Matt joined him.  "I think you need help."

            "You think _I need help?" Fox exclaimed incredulously as the train came to a stop and they began to get off.  "And what about you, mister?" he asked, lowering his voice somewhat.  "You think mooning after a girl isn't grounds enough for aid?"_

            Matt tried to stifle his laughter, but ended up snorting in spite of himself.  "Since when did you become eloquent?"

            "Since a friend of mine started spending half his time dreaming in class rather than talking to me, keeping my vocabulary at its standard low."

            The brown-haired young man stopped in his tracks, causing Fox to run right into him.  "I did?"

            Fox nudged him back into walking.  "Sort of, yeah.  Come on, we have a mission—you know, our SeeD exam—to think about here," he reminded his friend as they got off the train and headed for the waiting car near the station.  

            "Right," Matt agreed, shaking his head and willing the thoughts of Colene—_no, just that girl_—to vanish.  They got into the vehicle, and once all cadets were inside the three-hour drive to Tears' Point began.  Matt and Fox spent almost the entire time with their heads together, first being silly by talking about all the impossible things that could happen at their post, then by outlining different plans, based on the fact that they would be patrolling a tower _outside_ of the city and its walls—walls that had been built after the last Lunar Cry—and would also be exposed to the rumored monsters living near the town.

            All too soon, they arrived, just east of the city.  Getting out of the car, they could see smoke hanging over the city of Tears' Point like a cloud and the orange flickers of fire below it in various places.  

            "All right, everyone—listen up!" Kira Westin, the instructor in charge, called out to the ten cadets.  "Get to your posts as soon as you can, and remember to not stray from your orders!  Also, order to withdraw takes priority—come back to this point if you receive such an order.  Okay, head out!"

            Some cadets hesitated; others headed straight for their posts as if arrows shot from a bow.  Matt and Fox were in the latter category, and soon reached the South Tower.

            "Matt!" Fox hissed.  "Soldiers—four of them!  Near a door to the tower!"

            His partner set his jaw, all thoughts of that girl and fears gone from his mind.  All he thought about now was taking out the small group of soldiers nearby, their backs to the pair.  "You take out the left one, I'll get the right one, and then we'll have to face off with the remaining two."

            Fox nodded, relieved to see the battle side of his friend come out to play.

            Stealthily, using the skills they had acquired from years of sneaking past the Garden faculty after curfew, they slid up behind their targets, and with one blow from Fox's fist and one slash of Matt's blade, two of the four soldiers lay dead.

            "What the—" one of the remaining soldiers exclaimed, swearing when he saw the dead bodies of two people he had seen living just a moment before.  He and his partner whirled around, their guns blazing, and Fox and Matt ducked barely in time.

            "You've got those attack spells ready, right?" Fox whispered as they dashed around to hide behind a nearby rise.

            Matt nodded.

            "Well, now might not be a bad time to use one!"

            Closing his eyes briefly, Matt mentally went through his magic inventory.  Fira, Blizzard—he immediately shook his head at that option—Quake, Meteor, Ultima, Full-life, Cura, Holy, a single Water, Thunder, Thundaga, and…'_Wait a minute—I think I have a few Firagas, too.  But I'll save those for an emergency…since I like fire and that's the most powerful fire spell out there.'_  "I'll use two thunders, and you go take them out—they should be fairly shocked…or their guns should be out of commission, at least."

            Fox nodded.

            "Where are they?"

            "About ten feet from where we are, directly behind us, with their guns pointed somewhat near us."

            "Got it."  

            "Matt…how are you going to get both of them when it takes two spells?"

            He grinned at his partner.  "You'll see."  In one smooth motion he stood, turned, and cast not one but both spells—one spell from each hand.  In unison two bolts of lightning arced out from his hands, hitting the two soldiers at the same time.  Their guns exploded from the electrical force and they both fell to the ground, dazed more from the explosion than from the lightning.

            "Dang it!" Matt hissed as he dropped back down next to his partner.

            "What?" Fox said, his eyes wide from seeing something he thought was impossible.  '_I didn't think _anyone_ could cast two spells at the same time like that!'_

            "I only hit their guns.  They exploded, so the soldiers seem dazed, but still alert.  Come on, let's get them before they recover!"

            As one the pair stood, vaulted over the rise, and dashed for the two soldiers, who were busy trying to stand up.  Matt slashed at one with his gunblade, but hit only armor.  Fox became engaged in a fistfight as soon as he reached his target.  Forcing himself to place all his attention on his opponent, Matt barely avoided a controlled punch and brought his blade up, slicing neatly through the man's gap in the armor at the elbow.  Blood spurted from the wound as his forearm fell to the ground, and the man cried out in pain.

            '_I hate killing men,'_ Matt thought as he grimly drove his blade through the man's chest.  The soldier fell limply to the ground as blood poured out from the heart's last few beats, leaking through all the kinks in his armor to form a puddle in the grass.  '_Give me a monster any day—not this.  But he knew what he was getting into, as I did.  War, being a soldier, being a SeeD…death is always around us.'_

            "Yo, Matt!  Are you all right?" Fox called into his thoughts, bringing him back to the present.

            "What?"

            "You were just standing there, staring at nothing."

            "Oh…sorry.  Just got lost in thought, I guess."

            Fox frowned but refrained from commenting.  "Come on—let's go finish securing the tower."

            Suddenly a comm squawked.  "Tunner, Gerdant, are you there?"

            Fox swore.  "We don't have much time before the whole lot of them is down on us!"

            "I know—wait a minute, I have an idea.  We're going in."

            "What?!?  Are you crazy or something?  That tower has got to be full of these guys!"

            "Who will be down on us all at once from the absence of replies from these four in a few minutes…or we could attack each small group one by one."  Without waiting for an answer, Matt broke open the tower door a few paces away from the dead soldiers and headed inside.

            His partner shook his head, but followed him anyway.  "I just hope he doesn't get the two of us killed," he muttered as he headed inside.

            The two found themselves inside a newly made, somewhat haphazard control room.  "What the…" Fox wondered aloud before a guard entered through the opposite door.  When he spotted them, the guard demanded, "Who are you and—"

            They never knew what he was about to say.  Matt moved faster than either of them had previously thought possible and neatly sliced the man's throat, blood spraying everywhere, especially onto the young man who had just killed him.

            "You are going to be some sight with all that blood on you," Fox told him with a shudder.  '_I've never seen this side of him…'_

            A shiver slid down Matt's spine.  "I've never…I didn't think…"

            Realizing that not even the guy himself had realized he was capable of such actions, Fox interjected gently, "It's war, remember?  Besides, just think of what they've done to the city.  All the burning…the destruction…what if this was…"  Fox almost choked on the thought.  "…what if this were Balamb?"

            A gleam suddenly came into Matt's eyes.  "They would pay."

            An echoing gleam leapt into Fox's eyes.  "Let's go."

            Entering the room the guard had came from, they found three more.  Before any of them could speak, Fox had taken out one, Matt another, and the third was burned by a Fira spell from Matt.  "You have a few spells, too, don't you, Fox?" his partner queried, breathing a bit heavily after the three guards had been killed.

            "Yeah—some Waters, Aeros, Tornadoes, a few Thundagas, and a Curaga or two.  I don't have any spells that attack more than one target at a time, though."

            "That's all right.  I have a few of those, I think.  Come on," Matt said as he pointed to a nearby stairwell.  "I think we'll find most of the guards up there."

            However, as they climbed up and up and up, they found no trace of guards.  '_Heck, we haven't even found a trace of life,' Matt thought, a bit nervous at the idea._

            "Dang, I haven't even seen as much as a bug on these stairs," Fox noted aloud, shaking his head.

            "Creepy, isn't it?"

            His friend nodded his agreement.

            A few stories later they reached the top of the tower.  Apparently expensive equipment took up the entire center of the platform, including radar dishes, scanning equipment, and a lot of wires that ran down the outside.  "What are they doing here, surveying the area or something?" Fox wondered aloud.

            "Something like that—either that or this is an observation tower."

            "Does this…remind you of anything?"

            Matt frowned.  "It does.  It's kind of like…what my dad went through, about twenty years ago.  Is that what you were thinking of?"

            Fox nodded.  

            "Then I wonder what might be causing this—wait a minute."  Both of them froze when they heard an odd flapping noise.

            "This can't be good…" Fox said worriedly.

            "I know."  They glanced up to see a huge, winged beast coming down toward them.  Without thinking, Fox cast Tornado while Matt cast Meteor.  Immediately a great wind began tugging at the pair, and soon it concentrated into a whirlwind around the creature.  It squawked as it realized it could not escape the sudden gale it found itself in and then succumbed to the strength of the twisting wind as it was whipped around and around.  Just as it began to do so, giant rocks appeared above it and fell with as much force as possible.  By the eighth and final one, the whirlwind had ended, and the monster fell to the ground twenty stories below, lying still on the grass.

            "I think it's dead," Matt said once he had found his voice.  "Dang, we sure took that thing out!"

            "Yeah.  Think it was why we haven't seen anything for a while?"

            His partner nodded.  "I think the tower is secure.  Let's examine this equipment, see what it's for, then go down to the base again and compare it.  I think all those terminals down there are where the information is processed."

            "Right."

* * *

            He could feel the life leaving him, but the heat of his anger allowed him to remain alive for just a little while longer.  With only the strength of his will he forced one blood-soaked hand to reach over to his other arm, wincing as the movement pressed the edges of the gaping wound in his chest together.  Closing his eyes against the pain, one rebellious tear squeezed out between his tightly shut eyelids.  Forcing them open again, he typed in a command on the keypad on his arm.  He shuddered, taking his last breath as he fell back down to the ground, and the blackness that had been eating away at the edges of his sight was finally allowed to take over as death embraced him…

* * *

            Almost giddy with excitement and relief, the two half walked, half slid back down the stairs to the base of the tower.  Once back down on the ground, Fox started looking over the monitors they had seen earlier, while Matt tried to trace wires from place to place.  "Yup—look here, Fox.  All these wires lead upward," he told him, holding up a bundle of wires tied together, leading from the back of two of the largest monitors upward, through the ceiling.

            "Right.  So I guess they were surveying the area…that or at least gathering data of some sort."

            Matt nodded, and knelt to put the wires back in place when he spotted something out of the corner of his eye.  "I'm…I'm gonna move those…behind the stairs…or something…" he said hoarsely, having seen once again the atrocity he could commit—the bodies still lay there where they had fallen, two in pools of their own blood and one with his neck at a grotesque angle.

            Fox swallowed hard and glanced away.  "Good idea."

            After the gruesome task had been performed, Matt returned to the front of the room where all the equipment was located and sat down in a chair heavily, rubbing at one hand with a piece of cloth.  "I hate war, and fighting, and killing."

            "Me too.  Come on, Matt—let's think here.  If we can solve some of this stuff, we could possibly be working toward a day where there won't be any more battles."

            His partner perked up at the thought.  "That is definitely a pleasant prospect," he agreed.  "So…I wonder what kind of data they were trying to gather, and what they were trying to gather it fo—" Matt broke off suddenly as the ground shook and a giant thud was heard.  

            "That was…really close by…" Fox breathed quietly.

            "I know—let's go check it out."  Opening the door and walking through the outer room, they stopped at the door, glanced at each other, and with a sharp nod to each other opened the outer door.

            Stepping cautiously outside, the two peered out, and almost fell backward at the monstrous thing that came stomping into view from the north side of the tower.  "What the…" Fox exclaimed, too stunned to even swear.

            "I—oh no," Matt began.  His heart sank.  "It's a giant assassin robot, like what my father fought before, at the Dollet communications tower…"

            "Well, whoever orchestrated this has a love for history…or something…"

            An odd sound was heard then, similar to the sound one would expect when a laser was powering up.  "Duck!" Matt ordered just as he dove for the ground.  Fox followed him down a fraction of a second later, and even so both of them nearly received buzz-style haircuts.  A bright orange laser beam flashed overhead, panning the area just above their heads.  Rolling away from the X-407 type machine, they both found themselves just past the charred black line the beam had written in the grass.  With a start Matt realized what that meant, but he was too late.  The ground began to shake, and suddenly both of them were launched up into the air about ten feet, along with a goodly amount of grass, dirt, and rocks, and then, once gravity regained control, fell back down to the ground hard amid a rain of soil and organic material.

            Fox was able to roll away from most of the shower with a groan, but Matt was not so lucky.  He was hit three times in the head with larger rocks that had been lodged in the dirt, and by the third time could feel his body wanting him to pass out.  '_No…I've got…I've got to stay awake!'_

            Through a sheer act of will he forced himself to get to his knees and glance over to where Fox also was struggling to rise.  "It's…a machine…" Matt got out between gulps of air as he tried to recover from the wind being knocked out of him from the fall.

            His friend nodded.  "So it's electric…"

            "So we need…thunder…and water…attacks…"

            "Right."  Standing up, Fox tried to clear his mind enough to cast Thundaga, and even through his daze managed to hit the robot on its front left leg.  The sizzling thunderbolt arced down beautifully from the cloudless sky to hit it just in the joint, and amid a grand display of sparks the leg snapped off.

            However, since it had three more legs, X-407 did not go down.  Instead it charged with a lumbering gait at the young redhead and knocked him down to the ground, hard.  Since Fox did not move after his fall, the assassin machine thought he was dead, and turned its sights toward Matt, who was still on his knees.

            With a painful push he forced himself to jump to the side as the robot charged toward him with the same move it had just used on his friend.  Using his gunblade for leverage, he stood, and concentrated his only Water spell on the tip of his blade.  _I won't have to touch it, at least.  Light shone in on the tip from a dozen different angles to form into a large drop of water balancing precariously on the end.  With a loud cry he charged at X-407, and since the thing had been unbalanced by its recent charge, it was unable to respond quickly to Matt's attack._

            A loud grating noise echoed against the stone of the tower's walls as he made contact with the back of the robot, and he neatly sliced a narrow gash in the armor on top of the machine.  The water spell made it possible for his blade to do so, and as the liquid magic made contact with the water-sensitive innards of X-407, sparks and electric lightning flashed everywhere.  Matt jumped down off the thing after he had finished his cut and whirled around wearing a hopeful grin.

            However, X-407 was not quite defeated yet.  It slowly began turning around to face Matt, and in a matter of seconds would face him once again.  The brown-haired young man could hear the laser charging, and with the little strength remaining to him realized he would not be able to take a blow of that magnitude.  Recalling how much damage the Water spell had done to the robot, he reluctantly pulled out a tiny green orb from his pocket.  '_Here goes…'_

            Closing his eyes, he used the orb to summon Leviathan, the Water elemental guardian force and the only GF he had.  '_I guess my love for fire makes me dislike water or something…ice, too…oh, well—here goes…'_

            He felt himself become distanced from the battlefield, as if he were somehow there yet not there at the same time.  Gazing down from above, he watched a giant blue sea serpent—Leviathan—appear from nowhere, hovering in the air twenty-five feet above the robot.  Suddenly the earth shook, and above it emerged a giant pillar of rock.  Leviathan moved to a point in midair just over this new formation, and with a convulsive shake produced an incredible amount of water that immediately began a rampage down the side of the monolith, a huge waterfall heading directly for X-407.  The GF then paused, glancing at its work, and then vanished along with the rock formation.

            However, the water did not vanish.  X-407 was engulfed by the torrent, and as the water dissipated Matt became his normal self once again.  As the water level sank below the level of the slash on the robot's back, sparks flew everywhere and the great machine gave one last spasm.  One of its remaining arms shot out and sliced at Matt's face, leaving two deep, thin gashes about a half-inch apart on his right cheek.  He cried out in pain, a hand flying up to his face as the robot crashed to the ground and died.

            He then pulled his hand away and was stunned to see it completely covered in blood already.  Staggering from the fiery agony of the gashes on his cheek and the multiple injuries he had suffered earlier at the robot's hands, Matt slowly made his way over to his fallen friend's side.  With an effort he cast Cura, which healed Fox enough to snap him out of his unconscious state and give him the strength to rise.  

            "Whoa, buddy, you don't look so good," his friend exclaimed after seeing the condition Matt was in.  He then glanced over and saw the junk heap that was once X-407 lying on the soaked grass.  '_Soaked?'_  "Matt…did you…did you use Leviathan?"

            He nodded, but involuntarily shuddered at the same time.

            Fox noticed it and frowned.  "If I didn't know any better—and I do!—I'd say you have an Affinity for fire, with how much you hate water and ice magic."

            "Yeah, well, I can't manipulate it worth spit, so I don't, ok?"

            Knowing this was a soft spot of Matt's, his partner decided to change the subject.  "I think we've _now taken out all of the enemies in our area."_

            "Right.  Now, since we've done that, I say the two of us go sit in that shade over there under the tower and rest for a few minutes before we finish investigating the equipment inside."

            "Good idea," Fox agreed.  The two slowly walked over to the spot Matt had just indicated and sat down.  Before long, however, both of them had found out how weary they were and drifted off to sleep.

            About two hours later a loud noise woke them both up.  With a start they both stood quickly, then instantly regretted it as the world spun about them.  "What was that?" Fox wondered aloud.

            "I have no idea.  Let's go see."  Just as they rounded the tower to the north side, they saw three Garden air transports settle on the ground and their instructor, Kira, came running out of one of them before the coils had even been shut off.

            The redhead pumped one fist in the air.  "All right!  We're done!"

          Matt grinned.  "Yeah!"  Then he sobered as a thought came to him.  "What if…what if this doesn't mean we're done?  What if it means…" he trailed off, unable to voice the thought.

            Fox winced, realizing what it was his friend was about to say.  "Oh, come on!  We did everything right—I'm sure it's because we're done."  Before he could say more Kira arrived. 

            "Well, how did it—oh my gosh, what happened to you two?"

            "We were fine until that happened," Matt said, pointing to the junk heap after he had led their instructor around the tower.

            Her eyes widened.  "And you two took care of that completely on your own?  Well, that will definitely have to be mentioned.  And the tower is secure?"

            "Yes," the pair said in unison.

            "Good.  Anything unusual?" Kira asked as she led them back toward the waiting air transports.

            "Yeah—a bunch of data-gathering equipment is installed inside.  We were just investigating it when you came along," Matt finished lamely, not wanting her to know that they had fallen asleep on their SeeD exam.

            "All right—we'll have to look into that."

            "How did…how did everything else go?"

            "We've taken care of most of the renegade soldiers, and the city has been secured.  They are gathering up the other students as we speak.  Now, come along—we need the medic to take a look at you."

* * *

            Fifteen minutes later all the students had been gathered and loaded onto the airlifts.  "What time is it?" Matt heard one of the others ask as a medic was cleaning his facial wounds.

            "About 1700 hours," the instructor replied.

            "All right, SeeD cadets," Kira interjected, calling all attention to herself.  "We will arrive back at Garden at 1900 hours.  At 1930 hours meet in the quad and you will learn whether you passed the exam or not, and then if you passed you will have half an hour to clean up and get ready for the SeeD inauguration party.  For now, get some well-earned rest.  I know you all are battle-weary, and some of you have sustained fairly extensive injuries..."

            Matt missed the rest of her little speech, since the medic had just applied a cleaning solvent to the gashes and the pain washed out anything else she might have said.  Then the medic gave him something to let him rest, and he drifted off in a painless doze for the rest of the ride.

            Back at Garden, they all got off the airlifts, and no one wanted to talk about the exam.  So a silent little group entered the huge structure of Balamb Garden, and not one person took much notice of any other.  Since Colene had been on a different lift than Matt—and Matt had barely even noticed her absence—she had no idea of what had happened to him, and vice versa.

            He slowly made his way to his room and, once there, sat down on his bed heavily.  A knock on the open door jerked him out of his thoughts.  "Still worried about falling asleep?" Fox asked him, no trace of his normal teasing tone to be found.

            "Yeah."

            Without an invitation the redhead sat down on the other bed in the room.  "I think you'll be fine—Kira was sure impressed by you taking out that robot."  Fox sighed and glanced down at the floor.  "Me, on the other hand…I fell asleep, _and I didn't take out the robot."_

            Matt looked up sharply.  "What are you talking about?  I never would have been able to do what I did if you hadn't zapped off its leg—man, that really slowed the thing down."

            "Really?"

            He nodded.  "Really.  Now, did you tell them anything more about it?"

            His friend shook his head.  "No—they were too busy attending to my injuries, which apparently would have been much worse without that Cura you gave me."

            "I'm glad it helped.  Now, I didn't say a thing either, so as far as they know we took it out together and investigated for the rest of the time.  They have no idea how long it took to kill all the soldiers and the robot, and we never even told them about that flying monster.  So I think we're fine."

            Fox let out a sigh of relief.  "I'm glad you think so.  Why don't we go get something to drink and then head for the quad?  It's almost 1930 hours, so…"

            "Sounds good to me."

            Both of them smiled for the first time since before getting on the airlift and headed off to the cafeteria together.

* * *

            Promptly at 1930 hours Headmaster Barnett arrived in the quad, and all ten students who had taken the exam were there.  "I hold here the name of each person who successfully completed the exam.  If your name is not called, you did not pass.  There will be no discussion of the results.  This is final.  If you did not pass, you will have to wait until the next exam to try again."

            He handed the clipboard he had brought to a nearby faculty member, who then began to simply read off names.  "Carter, Ria; Danes, Fox; Devenfield, Mark; Elnara, Colene; Leonhart, Matt; Wells, Ferran.  That is all."

            Cheers erupted from each new SeeD member, and sighs of disappointment from each of those who failed.  Matt tried to go over to congratulate Colene, but others beat him to it.  Feeling a bit defeated, he headed back to the dorms so he could change into his uniform and try to clean his face up a bit more for the party.  Fox quietly followed him, a bit worried at his friend's obsession with the girl.

            Back in his room, Matt dejectedly stared at his reflection in the mirror.  No matter what the medics did, the gashes retained the tender, ghastly puffiness that had appeared shortly after he had received the wounds.  '_She'll hate it, I'm sure_,' he thought for the tenth time in about half as many minutes.  He barely even noticed the fact that he was finally wearing a SeeD uniform, or the fact that someone was watching him.

            "Just tell her what happened and I'm sure she'll be cool with it, bro," Fox advised from the open door.

            "You really can read minds, can't you?" Matt accused.

            "No, just faces I know well…and you I've gotten to know well enough that you can be an open book at times…yet at other times be as expressionless as…well…as that chair over there."

            His friend stared at him for a moment, and then burst out laughing.  "You…I don't…oh, boy…Fox!  You need help!"

            "Didn't we go over that earlier?"

            "I think we did…though we never got any further."

            Fox chuckled.  "And that is because there is no need to.  Now, why don't we go down and check out that party?  I don't know about you, but I'm hungry."

            "Fox, you're always hungry."

            He shrugged casually.  "I'm always hungry when there's good food around, you mean.  And I'm sure it will be good here.  So let's go."

            As Matt allowed himself to be led out of the room, he asked his friend, "Where _do you put it all, anyway?"_

            Fox shot him a lofty look and said, "It's a talent."

            Matt snorted.  "Right."  As they left the dorms the pair just looked at each other, and then burst out laughing.  Their banter continued all the way to the ballroom.  However, the sight of the double doors sitting wide open, and the sounds of laughter and music floating out from the room, jerked Matt back into reality.  _She's in there…_

            "Go on," his friend said with a gentle nudge toward the doors.

            He took a deep breath and, with as much dignity as he could muster, walked inside.  All the decorations and bright lights, as well as the table full of food, was completely unnoticed by the young man with a single thought in his mind.  Matt soon spotted her and walked toward her.  For the first time that day his maneuvering went unhindered, and soon he found himself standing next to her, making sure she only saw the left side of his face.

            "Hey, Colene," he greeted her.

            She turned toward him, her blonde hair flowing gracefully with her movement to settle back down again, lying in shiny waves just on top of her shoulders.  "Hello, Matt."

            "How…how did your mission go?"

            "I passed, didn't I?"

            "Yes, yes you did."

            She smiled, dazzling him as she always did.  "Then that's all there is to it!"

            "Right…of course."

            Suddenly someone bumped into Colene from behind and startled her, causing her to drop the small wallet she had been holding in her hand.  Immediately Matt bent down to get it, and inadvertently allowed the right side of his face to show.

            Colene gasped.  "Matt!  What…what did you do to your face?"

            He cringed as he stood back upright to look down on her and hand her the wallet.  "Battle injury, Colene," he said simply.

            Then Mark walked up from the buffet table with two glasses of punch.  "Here you are, my dear," he said, handing one glass to Colene.  Glancing over, he noticed Matt standing there, and frowned.  "Dang, what did you do?  Get into a fight with a sword or something?"  He snickered.  "I bet it was your own sword, too."

            Matt's mouth became a thin, angry line.  "I don't think—"

            "You're right—you don't think."  Everyone in the group joined in Mark's laughter—including Colene.  "Now, buzz off.  We all know you made it to SeeD level just by the skin of your teeth, so you don't deserve to be around talented SeeDs like us."

           Rage threatened to boil over, but Matt somehow kept it under control.  "You're entitled to your own humble opinion, I suppose, but opinions are not truth, and you know it.  Besides, having to insult others in order to raise one's own status is a mark of insecurity and immaturity, and it also proves that the person being insulted is better than the one dishing out the insults."  He shrugged.  "In plain English—you know, the kind of language you can actually understand—that makes me better than you by a long shot.  See you later, Mark."  With a headshake of pity he turned away from the group and walked toward the buffet table, leaving behind him four mouths gaping open at his retreating back.

            Fox walked over to Matt's side and stared at him.  Once he had his friend's attention, he whistled with a shake of his head.  "I've never seen anyone get looks like those guys before—what did you say?"

            "Oh, Mark decided I was somehow inferior to him, so I told him the truth, and I had to say it more than once so they would understand."  He proceeded to relay the entire conversation to Fox.

            His friend whistled again.  "You sure let 'em have it."  Then he hesitated.  "Are you…are you all right?  I mean, with Colene going for Mark and all."

            Matt tried to act unconcerned and shrugged.  "Sure—they're on the same level, about, as far as immaturity and insecurity are involved, so I guess they're a good match."

            Fox saw right through it.  "Whatever, buddy.  If you need to talk to someone about it, just give me a ring, ok?  'Sides, with all this food about all I can do is listen, since I learned a while back one is not supposed to talk with one's mouth full."

            Matt chuckled.  "Good point."  He shook his head.  "Nah, I think I'll be fine.  I'm going to head over to the training center and work out a few kinks, all right?"

            His friend frowned.  "Avoid the T-rexaurs, all right?  I don't want you trying to kill yourself or anything in there."

            "I'll be fine—don't worry about it," Matt reassured him, waving him off.  "Now, go have some fun.  Why don't you go dance with Ria over there?  She's been looking at you a bit and I doubt she'd mind at all if you asked her for a dance."

            "Think so?"

            "Oh, yes.  Now go."

            "Yes, sir," Fox said with a mock salute, and then turned to head over to where Ria was standing.

            Matt shook his head at his friend as he left.  '_He's so odd—fun, though.'_  However, his lighter mood left and his dark feelings returned once he exited the ballroom through the double doors.   He headed directly for his new room, since SeeDs did not have to share a room with another person, and there changed out of his SeeD uniform into his normal clothing: jeans, t-shirt, and a jacket.

            With one last glance in the mirror at his face, Matt grabbed his gunblade and headed with purposeful strides toward the training center.  He clanged open the outer doors, and then headed for the right set of doors, waiting to open them until after the outer doors had swung shut.  

            Glancing around, Matt surveyed the now-familiar surroundings.  A stream flowed nearby, only a few feet into the training ground itself, and a small, narrow bridge spanned it from bank to bank, allowing the path to continue from one side to the other.  Palm-like trees dotted the area, giving the training ground a jungle atmosphere.  Large fallen logs were found every now and then, more of them further along the path as it grew wider the further in it went.  

            '_Enough of that.__  I need to fight.'_  Drawing his blade and holding it at the ready, he jumped at every small sound and minute movement of leaves, branches, or anything else.  Within the frame of an hour he had fought and killed nineteen Grats, plantlike creatures that roamed the training ground and liked to cast Sleep on unsuspecting victims—of which Matt was not one—and he had also taken out three Granaldos, large monsters akin to dragonflies.  Pausing for a moment, he sat down on an obliging fallen log and went over his new inventory of spells: seventy-two Sleeps, forty-one Silences, sixteen Cures, twenty-six Blinds, and thirty-seven Shells.

            Then he heard a bone-chilling roar not far from where he sat.  '_Oh, no…not one of those…please…'_ he pleaded silently to no one in particular.  Setting his jaw, Matt stood and held his blade ready, bracing himself for the monster that was surely about to attack him…


	4. Return to Tears' Point

Chapter 4: Return to Tears' Point

Matt's heart was pounding. _With it this close there is no way that I will be able to escape it…_ A huge footstep, and then another, and then a third, was heard, each one louder and more earth-shaking than the last. He gripped his blade even tighter—

—and all the lights turned on.

"What the—" Matt began, rounding the corner he had assumed the T-rexaur was about to come around. He froze when he saw the giant lizard standing not ten feet in front of him…but it was not moving.

"You're too valuable to lose to a monster like this," Headmaster Barnett said, walking into view and indicating the immobile beast with his thumb.

"What…did you…um…"

The headmaster laughed. "You didn't know we could freeze all the monsters inside of here? You do realize that this area requires maintenance just like all the other parts of Garden, and I doubt that all the workers are highly skilled in combat with creatures like Grats, not to mention lizards like this guy."

"I…I guess I wasn't really thinking, sir."

"Oh, come now, don't get all uptight with me, young man." He sat down on a nearby fallen log, then glanced at Matt, his eyes boring into those of the young SeeD. "And don't think I don't know why you're doing this."

"Doing what?"

"Charging in here half-cocked and fighting every monster in sight. I was young once too, you know. Even though most of the other students had no clue, I could tell that you are rather fond of young Colene Elnara. You took her cold shoulder rather well…at first. But coming in here and fighting off your anger and frustration this way was dangerous, and you know that."

Matt simply stood there, stunned at how well his headmaster understood him and his actions. He hesitated before interjecting, rather boldly, "Sir, I believe you came in here to tell me more than how well you can read me."

Arik was a bit startled by the new SeeD's pert remark. He paused and then replied, "That is one reason you were elevated to the rank of SeeD, Matthew Leonhart. Your perception is essential to your job as part of our elite mercenary force. Also, that backbone there is quite an asset." The headmaster stood. "You should go to bed, young man. We are giving you an assignment first thing in the morning, and I want you to be fully rested." He turned to leave, but Matt stopped him with a question. "Sir, why so soon?"

The leader of Balamb Garden turned back to face the young man. "You are aware of the SeeD shortage due to the widespread turmoil being spread by Ciaran's meddling in the world, as well as the random incidents such as the Tears' Point invasion. We need every SeeD we have, and more. Our resources are being spread thin as it is, and the six of you who passed the exam will all be placed into assignments almost immediately. Now, return to your dorm and your new room. Any other questions you have will wait until morning." Without another word he left the training center, leaving Matt alone with his thoughts.

After a moment he stood and left the same way the headmaster had. On the way to his room he thought, _Assignment, already? This hasn't happened since my father first became a SeeD…wait a minute…yet another similarity to events that happened two decades ago. What the heck is going on here?_ This train of thought continued to spin around in his head until he finally fell asleep back in his room almost an hour after he left the training center.

Early the next morning, Matt was startled out of slumber by a loud knock on his door. "Matt! Get up! You've got an assignment!" Fox's voice sounded through the steel plating.

_Why is he up already? _Matt wondered as he got out of bed, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and getting changed into a set of non-uniform clothing. A moment later he exited his room. "What gets you up this early?" he asked his friend, who was standing just outside in the hallway.

Fox shrugged. "I don't know…for some reason, I woke up early this morning and couldn't go back to sleep, and in the cafeteria the headmaster told me to tell you that you had an assignment. He wants you to go to his office right away."

_So he doesn't know Barnett told me about the assignment last night. I wonder why he told me about it last night, anyway. He didn't have to… _"Thanks, Fox. So," Matt began, taking on a sly look, "how did things go with Ria last night?"

Fox surprised him by turning slightly pink. "Pretty well."

His friend laughed. "I take it this is a mutual thing now?"

"Yeah…" For the first time that Matt could remember, Fox looked bashful.

"I'm glad for you, buddy," he told him with a grin, giving him a friendly slap on his shoulder. "See you later."

"Right." _Looks like he's taking the Colene thing all right…I hope._

Without a backward glance Matt headed for the corridor that led out of the dorms and into the main halls of Garden's first floor, hardly a person in sight at this early hour. He then walked toward the elevators and took the first available one to the third floor.

"Come in," Headmaster Barnett's voice sounded through the closed door as soon as Matt knocked on it. The young man did so and shut the door behind him before approaching the headmaster's desk. "Sir," he saluted him crisply.

Arik Barnett nodded once in acknowledgement. "At ease, Matt," he replied. "Now, I'm sure you are wondering just exactly what this assignment of yours entails, as well as why I told you about having an assignment last night instead of simply waiting to tell you until this morning." He held up a hand to forestall the young man's protests, and Matt was forced to close his mouth before he could say a word. "First of all, I told you about it last night hoping that you would forget about your death wish at the hands of the training center's monsters. It obviously worked."

The new SeeD glanced down at the floor, not willing to respond.

The headmaster nodded. "Secondly, your assignment is a fairly simple one, but important all the same: you are to return to Tears' Point and investigate the recent invasion, as well as check out the data-reading equipment. Then you are to discover their purpose and whether or not they have any connection to each other and to the Dark Mage Ciaran. You will go alone, and the assistance you will receive from us will consist of a small account in the city's bank. Please do this as quickly as you can, for there are many things we must do and few to accomplish them with." 

Arik stepped out from behind his desk and walked over to Matt. "Here," he said, handing the young man a slip of paper. "This is your account number, information, and password. Please use the money wisely and only when necessary. That is all—dismissed." The headmaster turned and headed back to his work.

Matt hesitated. "Sir, only one question: what form of transportation will I use to get there?"

Barnett glanced back at the young SeeD. "Go to the dock in Balamb and a small skiff will take you to the outskirts of Esthar. There you will be provided with a standard type of car common to the Trabian continent, and you will drive yourself to Tears' Point. Blend in as much as you can."

Matt heard his unspoken words—"There's no need to announce a SeeD presence back in that town."

"Oh, I almost forgot—here is your personal account in the Esthar World Bank, with all the necessary information. As a SeeD, of course, you will be paid on a regular basis according to your rank."

The young man's nod said it all—_I've waited a long time to become a SeeD, so I know how the rank system works._

"The skiff should arrive there shortly, so grab your gear and head over there. Dismissed."

Matt saluted smartly, spun on his heel, and left the office.

The headmaster watched him leave before finally returning to the stack of papers sitting on his desk. _I sure hope that boy is as good on his own in the real world as he has been in his training…_

Back in his room, Matt had almost finished backing his gear into one medium-sized bag when Fox walked in. "Where are you off to?" he asked him as Matt threw the last item in and zipped the bag shut.

With a grunt he slung his now-packed bag's strap over his shoulder and stood. "Tears' Point—I get to check out the recent invasion and all that equipment we found."

"How exciting."

His friend shrugged. "If it helps Garden, I'll do it, excitement or no excitement."

Fox frowned. "You okay, Matt?"

He stiffened and curtly replied, "I'm fine."

"You're okay after last night, then."

With a thud the young SeeD's bag fell to the ground as he sat down heavily on his bed. "I don't know, Fox. I just don't know." He sighed and stared at the floor for a moment.

"Need to talk about it?" his friend asked, sitting down next to him on the bed.

Matt nodded and quickly summarized the events of the night before, then glanced at a nearby clock. "Well, I'd love to stay and chat, but I'm running late and my skiff is probably already waiting for me," he finished as he stood and grabbed his bag.

"Okay. See you later, buddy," Fox said, also standing and extending his hand.

Matt took it and gave him a hearty handshake, as much to reassure himself as his friend. "Later." He hefted the strap back onto his shoulder and walked out the door.

* * *

_Here is a good place,_ Jade thought at the rodoral she was riding after spotting a small clearing in the forest below.

The giant winged creature glanced back at her and blinked its large eyes once in acknowledgement before swooping down to the ground. It crouched down low to allow Jade access to the grassy forest floor, and then once she was off leapt back into the air and flew away.

The young sorceress watched it go prior to turning around and heading south through the forest toward the city of Esthar. After about a half-hour's walk she found herself in the largest city in the world. Giant buildings stretched toward the sky with jagged fingers, but even these behemoths were dwarfed by the massive Presidential Palace that occupied the entire center of the metropolis.

_Time to begin my search,_ she thought to herself. _But where do I start?_ Dismayed at the thought of combing Esthar for one young man, she steeled herself for the long, tedious task ahead of her and began walking toward the nearest information center. _A map will certainly help…then I will check the hotels, frequented areas like shopping centers and squares, and the transportation areas, like the train station and the docks on the western outskirts of the city. If I haven't located him by then…_ With an effort she pushed the nightmare out of her mind and placed her full attention on her first move.

* * *

"Sorry about being late," Matt apologized to the skiff's pilot half an hour after leaving Garden.

"Not a problem," the graying man replied, taking his bag as the young SeeD climbed aboard. "You're merely expected to show up some time today at the car rental. Also, the mayor of Tears' Point wants you at his home before nightfall – any time between now and then is fine. He was the one who petitioned Garden for follow-up SeeD work."

Matt nodded as if he had already known this, wearing a mask of indifference to cover up his surprise. _I wonder why the headmaster never mentioned who called for SeeD in the town to me?_ He shrugged inwardly. _I guess it doesn't really matter…but it would have been nice to have been more informed._

The rest of the journey passed in relative silence, since he and the skiff's pilot were the only people on board, the pilot was not talkative, and Matt had too many things on his mind to speak much. About two hours later they arrived at the Esthar docks, located on the ocean fifteen miles to the west of the giant city. Matt thanked the pilot, grabbed his bag, and disembarked from the skiff.

Glancing around at the huge port, Matt took a few moments drinking the place in. The ocean gave the air a salty tang, and most of the people bustling about were somehow involved in ship work, whether it was loading, unloading, and storing cargo, or repairing or building vessels. Since the size of the docks was so great, it was about ten minutes before the young man was able to navigate the area and reach the station at which buses came and went every few minutes, ferrying passengers to and from Esthar.

Once Matt set foot on the bus, second in a long line of waiting commuters, the first butterfly awoke in the pit of his stomach. _Relax_, he ordered himself as he found a vacant seat not far from the door. _It's not as though the fate of the world is riding on your shoulders._ With a deep breath the SeeD pushed his nervousness into the back of his mind and deliberately blanked his thoughts as he stared vacantly out at the now-moving countryside.

Twenty minutes later the bus arrived at the sister station on the edge of the city. Matt disembarked, making sure his bag was still slung over his shoulder—the position from which it had not moved since he had placed it there back in his room at Garden—and glanced at a nearby sign. "Car Rental, ½ mile," he read silently. Nodding at the sign and unaware of the few frowns shot his direction from that simple movement, he turned in the direction the arrow indicated and began walking toward his destination.

_I can't believe how busy this place is…it's worse than the rush for hot dogs at lunch in Garden's cafeteria,_ he thought to himself wryly as he made his way down the sidewalk along with the rest of the river of humanity flowing in that direction. To his left sat a busy roadway, where cars rushed down one way or another, barely heeding the speed limit and usually noticing pedestrians or other travel impediments only soon enough to slam on the brakes and hear a loud chorus of angry horns up and down their lane. On the right were tall, narrow townhouses, defiantly of Esthar construction in their futuristic style, colors, and layout. Occasionally the young SeeD also spotted Esthar soldiers—it startled him at first to see soldiers in the city, but after noting how little heed the citizens paid to them (unless one had his or her ticket pad and pen out) he realized that they served as the local police force when the metropolis' security remained unthreatened.

After a long walk – made much longer by the volume of street and pedestrian traffic – Matt arrived at the car rental. He walked in through the double glass doors and up to the front desk, where a young woman greeted him and took the envelope he had brought. He waited quietly as she perused the contents, then began typing away at her computer. In a few moments she glanced back at him. "Here are your keys, sir—your car is in spot 91."

"Thank you," he replied, taking the keys and walking back out the way he came into the car lot. Spotting his vehicle, a small red sedan, he dropped his bag in the trunk and then got into the driver's seat. After making sure it had fuel, Matt started the car and drove out of the lot, heading out toward the wasteland that separated Esthar and Tear's Point.

* * *

After a fairly boring four-hour drive, Matt arrived at Tears' Point. _It hasn't been long enough since I was last here,_ he thought dejectedly, his eyes straying to the south tower as his mind brought back memories of the day before. _But enough of the past. I have a new task ahead of me._

He drove through the town, following the blue signs that directed traffic toward its seat of government. Passing through its center, he followed the main road to a private drive, which stretched for a quarter of a mile to the mayor's residence. Lined with cherry blossom trees in the peak of their season, the SeeD felt completely disconnected from the horrors of the outside world as he cruised slowly down the lane.

A few minutes later he arrived at the building that served as both an elegant home and the mayor's office. After being directed to a parking spot, Matt turned off the engine, stepped out of the vehicle, and locked it before walking up the long pathway toward the main entrance of the house. 

The young SeeD headed for the large circular desk situated near the center of the moderately large lobby he found himself in and introduced himself to the older woman seated behind it. "I'm here to see the mayor on SeeD business," he finished succinctly.

"Ah, yes, Mayor De Vries is expecting you." She reached down to a row of buttons sitting next to a speaker and pressed one. "Sir, the SeeD is here to see you."

"Please, send him in," a strong, deep voice replied.

The receptionist released the intercom button and turned back to Matt. "Go through the doors on my right, your left, and head down the hall you find there to the double doors at the far end. Knock and the mayor will let you in."

"Thank you, ma'am," he replied before moving briskly in the indicated direction. He followed her directions to the letter and soon arrived at the described office. Before he could knock twice the same voice from earlier called out, "Come on inside."

Matt did so, entering a modestly ornate office that did not waste the space it had on outlandish decor like the administrative offices of larger cities, such as Dollet and Deling City. "Have a seat," De Vries' voice intruded on his evaluating train of thought.

Once he was comfortable, De Vries spoke up again. "I'm sure Arik Barnett briefed you fully on this task, Mr...?"

"Matthew Leonhart. Feel free to just call me Matt, though."

"Leonhart, you say? Are you related to Squall Leonhart?"

Matt nodded. "He's my father."

"I see," the mayor replied, leaning back in his chair a bit. "Yes... I do see some resemblance between you two. I've met your father on occasion -- he appears to be a very dedicated man when his work is concerned. You have an interesting act to follow, don't you?"

The young man was feeling a bit uncomfortable with the sudden familiarity this stranger -- and client -- was displaying. "Ah, yes, sir."

De Vries chuckled. "You must be somewhat similar to him in that respect."

"Sir?"

"You probably expected me to get right to the point of your task here, give you your requirements, and send you on your way, right?"

Matt blinked. "Uh... yes, sir, I suppose I did at that."

"And I'm sure you would be much more comfortable with a change of subject, so I will get to the point. Matt, according to your headmaster, you were involved in the SeeD exam mission that took place here yesterday, correct?"

"Yes, sir," he replied, feeling much better now that the subject was in an area he was comfortable with.

The mayor's eyes twinkled, but he did not otherwise show his amusement at the young man's changed demeanor. "So you are already somewhat familiar with the strangeness of the sudden occupation."

He nodded.

"I am also aware of the fact that you and your partner took out the communications base that was being set up on the outskirts of town, defeating even a giant assassin robot. So I am glad to have someone with your level of skills here, despite the short time you have held the SeeD title. Along with your family history, you should be well equipped for the small task I hold here for you, even though you are here alone. However, this has all transpired before this moment. How do you personally feel about taking on your first mission alone, and so soon after graduation?"

_Well, this guy could fight a marble for bluntness._ "I feel adequately prepared, sir. However, I'd rather my family's history not be a factor in any person deciding how talented I am as a SeeD, but rather my own past accomplishments and even failures."

De Vries surprised him by laughing. "Arik warned me about you."

"Sir?" This conversation was definitely _not_ what he had expected.

"You have a talent for getting right to the point of your own feelings, as well as forgoing all sense of political correctness and decency."

"I apologize."

The mayor waved it off. "No need to. It's merely an observation. It would do you well to keep it in mind in the future, though. A first time -- seen by those who do not know you well -- can be taken as merely young fervor over reputation and duty. Anything after that, however..." he trailed off, letting his serious silence convey his message.

Matt nodded. "I understand."

"Very well. Now, let us get to the point of the matter: the invasion by the renegade Esthar soldiers was strange, and completely unexpected. No one outside of that group seems to have been aware of the plan before it was executed, and very little has been deduced or discovered in the meantime. It's true that it hasn't been long -- only a day -- but the invasion appears to have been completely devoid of motive other than a random attack on a random town."

"I see. So you wish for me to hunt down any clue concerning a possible motive?"

"Yes. Also, it has been brought to my attention that someone -- or more than one someone -- has been spreading rumors of the Black Mage Ciaran's involvement. Please also investigate that. It would be nice to know if those rumors have merit or not."

"Is there anything else, sir?"

"Just one more -- please capture or quietly dispose of any renegade soldiers who remain in hiding. They may have valuable information, but if any citizen is endangered by a soldier's presence, feel free to use force in defense."

"Sir, your town seems rather peaceful in the aftermath of this -- is there any way I could have written permission to use force within the city walls? I'd like to have something of the sort handy just in case my actions cause antagonistic reactions."

The mayor nodded and reached for a scratch pad. He handed a sheet to the SeeD after writing a short note on it. "Hand it to Marlene -- the receptionist who showed you in -- and she will type up a formal letter for you to carry around at all times." He leaned back in his chair and folded his hands together in front of him. "I believe that covers everything. I trust you to do your job as efficiently and quickly as possible."

"I will do my best, sir."

De Vries stood, and Matt did as well barely a second afterward. "That is all I can expect from anyone." He extended a hand, and the young man took it. "Good luck."

"Thank you, sir." He inclined his head to the mayor, then turned sharply and headed for the door.

"Oh, Matt?"

The SeeD turned back to look at him, barely hiding his curiosity mixed with his desire to leave. "Yes, sir?"

"Try not to stray outside the city walls, if possible, unless you are in a vehicle. Monsters seem to be appearing."

"Sir?"

"It's not part of your job to investigate that situation," the mayor told him, waving one hand in dismissal. "Our walls should protect us for the forseeable future. I did want you to be aware of it, though."

"Thank you, sir." This time, Matt made it out the door.

Spending as little time as possible with the receptionist, he obtained his letter and briskly headed out the front door, trying not to look like he wanted to get out of there but failing. 

* * *

About five hours later, after driving to a local motel, getting his room, and setting out to hunt down clues and anything else that might aid his investigation, the young man collapsed on a bench, frustrated. _Doesn't _anyone_ know _anything_ around here? Well, I guess I should have somewhat expected this -- the mayor called in for SeeD help _because _no one knew anything... but how does he expect me to accomplish a single thing if there is no information in this blasted town!_ With a groan he leaned back on the bench, running his fingers through his hair and closing his eyes as he tried to mentally seek out a good spot to start over within the city walls. He opened his eyes and squinted when he realized that leaning back had placed his head directly in the rays of the setting sun. _Whoa... setting sun? It's summer! Man, it's a lot later than I thought it was... _ Matt mentally berated himself for letting his observation skills slack so much that he was not even aware of the time. _I'm beat. I'll get a good night's sleep and start over in the morning. Maybe I could ask someone at the motel's front desk... perhaps they've heard something from some the people who have passed through here._

Standing up and stretching, he glanced off toward the south and saw the tower he and Fox had fought at the day before, still sitting there solemnly as if nothing exciting had ever happened in its lifetime. _It's amazing what can happen in such a short time,_ he mused, starting his trek back to the motel. He snorted, recalling the fruit of the current day's efforts. _It's also amazing how _little_ can happen in the same amount of time. _Shaking his head and muttering to himself, he picked up his pace, thinking that the small bed in his room sounded rather good right then.


End file.
